Grothe knew deep down ACL was torn

Posted Sep 21, 2009 by Brett McMurphy

Updated Sep 21, 2009 at 10:31 AM

Shortly before noon Sunday, Matt Grothe stepped inside a medical office on the University of South Florida campus accompanied by his parents, two younger brothers, his girlfriend and an uncle.

Grothe, USF’s star quarterback, had undergone an MRI about an hour earlier, but deep down he already knew the results. Grothe knew he had played his final game for the Bulls.

A doctor delivered the news: a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Grothe’s left knee.

A senior, Grothe had just been told his USF career was over. He could not play at Florida State on Saturday. He could not add to his Big East Conference record for total yards. His quest to win the school’s first Big East title was over.

Grothe absorbed the news and, according to his father, asked a question: “How long do we have to wait for the surgery?”

Grothe, 23, already is planning a comeback to fulfill his dream of playing professionally next season.

Please click here to read the rest of my story on Grothe that ran on the front page - Page 1A of today’s Tampa Tribune.

Also, here’s a look at freshman QB B.J. Daniels returning home to Tallahassee for his first start.

Grothe worth a TD: This time last week, Ben Epstein, of America’s Line and VegasVigorish.com, told me USF would be a 5-1/2 to 6-point underdog at FSU, if the Seminoles defeated BYU. Obviously, that changed drastically when Epstein set the line with USF as a 12-1/2 point underdog after Grothe’s injury.

Apparently not many folks are giving USF a shot without Grothe, as FSU has already climbed to a 14-point favorite.